Too little or two much

Having breakfast with a fellow CZT yesterday, she asked me if I have a tendency to over-work or under-work my tiles. I try to not do either, but if I had to chose, I definitely tip the scales towards to side of over-work side. I like things detailed and I like exploring to see where the tangles will lead me. I try not to over-think, but I do like to have lots of interesting things to look at. With that I present you Renaissance Zendalas #5, 6, and 7.

This one was “finished” at least half a dozen times, but I kept wanting to add “one more thing.” I still want to add some color to the striped cones toward the edges, but I am restraining myself 🙂

This one I started while waiting for The Fault in Our Stars world premiers. I thought it was appropriate to decorate it with strands of beads in honor of Artoo for this week’s Diva challenge. On this one, I think I over-worked it. Should have stopped before that last strand of tiny black beads.

For an experiment, I decided to use the same string and keep it mindfully simple. So, what do you think? Is it finished? I see half a dozen things I want to do to this. Is in under-worked?

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16 thoughts on “Too little or two much”

Hi Cris, I like them all and you did a good exposure of under- overdone and just right. To me I would say the first one looks just right, the last one is definetly under done. It just doesn’t look finished. And the second one I could understand this one is over done, but just a little. I like the white pearls higlighting and shading, so thats all where my eyes were looking at, I just forget about all the other pearls and only look admiringly to your white pearls.

It’s a Zentangle right? There is no right and wrong! 🙂 I do know what you are saying though, and I go both directions. Sometimes, to much for some, to little for others, and sometimes just right, for others and myself. I actually like the black beads in the second, and for me I find the border on the first more distracting than the beads on the second, but would still add some to the third. Just me though, and there is no mistakes…. we all need to remember that one! 😉 I just think that all three are lovely pieces of work.

Hi Kate. Thanks for the encouragement. I actually like all three of them, just trying to start a discussion. I always keep going until I like the result. That is probably why mine can tend to be on the over-cooked side.

Still looking at that third one…. Maybe just a little shading on the orbs/tipple, and/or along the outside edges… might set off the white a bit, and anchor the tipple. I don’t think that it needs much. Again just a thought. 🙂

As long as you are enjoying the journey the end result isn’t the point of Zentangle. That being said, some of us like to work pieces to overflow and some are minimalists. The first two look like “Cris’ work” while the last one does not look like yours. Embrace your style and do add more to the last one 🙂

Thanks, Jean. You made me realize that the flaw is actually in the question. “Overwork” and “Underwork” are judgemental terms that should not be applied to Zentangle. I agree totally with ’embrace your style.’ Still not sure I have an identifiable style. I think it keeps changing.

There is definitely something to be said about the influence of negative space – and I think it carries with it a learning curve. The more one learns to incorporate negative space within compositions, the sooner the negative-space comfort zone is found! Overworked? Underworked? If it’s a Zentangle, both are acceptable!! Nice work, Chris.

I agreee with Jean’s response … you do have a style all your own … if you randomly pick up a bunch of your tiles and look at them you’ll see a balance of light, medium and dark tangles, you’ll see depth from your shading and light from highlights, you’ll see motion, movement and contentment. Thinking of your style as I look at the last tile, I still want the depth and highlights … that’s what identifies your work most … it’s your second signature!

I think all three are great and OK, because there is no right or wrong in Zentangle. It’s just a matter of taste and I think you will always know when a tile is finished. I like all three in a different way.